Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. had a season to forget in 2024. After earning First-Team All-Pro honors in 2023, Winfield missed 8 games due to injuries and played a career-low 601 snaps, according to PFF‘s Zoltán Buday.
Even when he was on the field, Winfield struggled mightily. His 9% missed tackle rate was his worst of the past 3 seasons, and his 50.3 PFF coverage grade ranked near the bottom of the league (137th out of 171).
But, the Buccaneers are confident that he’ll turn it around in 2025, reclaiming his place among the league’s elite safeties. With $45 million fully guaranteed, he secured the most guaranteed money by any safety in the league.
Thanks to that guaranteed money, ESPN’s Dan Graziano ranked Winfield’s contract as the most “player-friendly” in the league among safeties.
Buccaneers Safety Earned Massive Pay Day After 1st-Team All-Pro Season
Detroit‘s Kerby Joseph holds the title of the league’s highest-paid safety by average annual value ($21.5 million). But Winfield is right behind him at $21.025 million per year.
The Lions’ First-Team All-Pro certainly made the most of his contract year in 2024. He shined in coverage (league-leading 91.9 PFF coverage grade), pulling down a league-high 9 interceptions.
Winfield may be slightly behind Joseph, “but the rest of the deal is great for Winfield in comparison,” writes Graziano.
“Winfield got a $20 million roster bonus in 2024 and fully guaranteed salaries of $4 million in 2024 and $21 million in 2025,” writes Graziano. “He’s sure to make $45 million over the first two years of the deal and would make $64.5 million over the first three if he stays in Tampa Bay. It’s strong money, given the rest of the safety market.”
Even though the deal is one of the most “player-friendly” in the league, it still allowed for some flexibility for the Buccaneers. Before this year’s draft, Tampa Bay restructured Winfield’s deal to free up over $15 million in cap space, according to Greg Auman of Fox Sports.
As long as Winfield can stay healthy, he should be in great position for another All-Pro-type year in 2025. The Buccaneers would be more than happy with that level of production, no matter how “player-friendly” his deal is.
Winfield in Position to ‘Rejoin the Elite Safeties in the NFL’ in 2025
The Buccaneers’ 2024 season was their most successful since Tom Brady’s time in Tampa Bay. Most of that success came on the offensive side of the ball, though. They finished at No. 3 in total offense (399.5 YPG) and No. 4 in scoring offense (29.5 PPG).
The Buccaneers improved from 9-8 to 10-7 and secured their fourth consecutive division title. But they came up just short against the Commanders in the Wild Card round.
Their defense regressed last year for many reasons, but the health of their secondary was one of the main roadblocks. As Buccaneers Senior Writer/Editor Scott Smith notes, those injuries “kept the defense from fully jelling for much of the year.”
The Buccaneers spent valuable capital addressing those issues, bringing in cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish and signing veteran edge rusher Haason Reddick. But Smith notes that their biggest improvement “could come from within.”
“If sixth-year safety Antoine Winfield Jr. can return to the first-team All-Pro form he displayed in 2023, the Bucs are likely to be far more difficult for opposing offenses to handle in 2025,” writes Smith.
Barring more injury issues in 2025, Winfield is “capable of making game-changing plays on a nearly weekly basis,” writes Smith. If he can keep that up, he’ll be “in good position to rejoin the elite safeties in the NFL.”
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